COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State women's soccer team earned the preseason No. 12 ranking in the 2005 SoccerBuzz.com preseason poll. The Buckeyes will begin their 2005 campaign with the annual Scarlet and Gray scrimmage at 4 p.m. Thursday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium and will play host to Wake Forest in an exhibition match at 8 p.m. Aug. 15. Ohio State kicks off the regular season on the road against Kent State at 4 p.m. Aug. 26.

Ohio State, which placed as high as No. 2 in the 2005 Great Lakes Region preseason poll behind 2004 defending national champion Notre Dame, returns seven starters. Leading the Scarlet and Gray will be seniors Danielle Dietrich (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills), Lisa Grubb (Sr., Portage, Mich./Portage Central), and Megan Stickler (Sr., Strongsville, Ohio/East Carolina). Grubb and Dietrich were second and third, respectively on the team last season in goals, assists and points and Stickler started all 26 contests in the midfield for the Buckeyes in 2004. Ohio State also returns sophomore Lara Dickenmann (Soph., Kriens, Switzerland/Sursee). En route to leading the team in goals (13), assists (12) and points (38), the 2004 Soccer Buzz National Freshman of the Year broke OSU single season records in those same categories. Defensively, Ohio State returns defenders Emily Francis (Jr., Paris, Ohio/Marlington), Miller and Keiana Mitchell (Soph., Cincinnati, Ohio/Country Day). Last season, the trio helped the Buckeyes limit their opponents to 18 goals in 2004.

Lisa Collison (Fr., Niagara Falls, Ontario/St. Michaels), Caitlin Colfer (Fr., Albany, N.Y./Colonie), Courtney Cripps (Fr., Acworth, Ga./North Cobb), Amy Graeff (Fr., Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North) and Christine Lu (Fr., Lawrenceville, Ga./Grayson) all are freshman joining the Buckeyes this season and are a part of a recruiting core that is ranked the third best class in the Great Lakes Region. The Buckeyes, who finished the 2004 season 19-4-3 and No. 8 in the poll, are just one of four Big Ten squads to crack the Top 25. Penn State is the highest placing conference team at No. 6 and Wisconsin and Illinois follow ranked No. 17 and No. 23, respectively.